Kayaking out to Sandy Bay in Abel Tasman National Park

The call came the night before: Due to changing weather (wind) conditions, the planned kayaking tour was moved up from the originally scheduled 10:30 AM to 8:30 AM. On the original tour, we would have paddled from south to north along the coast, but since the wind had shifted and was expected to come from the north late in the morning, the organizer decided that we should take advantage of the favorable wind direction in the early morning, paddling from south to north. Otherwise, it would have become too strenuous to paddle against the wind and waves...

Essentially, it is a nice concern, but for us, it meant that we had to leave much earlier during our one-and-a-half hour journey from our tiny house to Marahau, which goes over the Takaka Hills. So, alarm set for 6 AM (what are vacations for, after all...) and off we go. We arrive at the kayaking tour organizer with perfect timing at 8:30 AM and have to get ready immediately.

After an introduction to paddle positioning and how to get in and out of the kayak, we pull our double kayak into the open water. You can't say we were relaxed. After all, we are not experienced kayakers and we've not really been in the open sea before...

But what could possibly go wrong? We are a small group of five tourists, by the way, all Germans again, and we set off with two guides.

We work well together and manage everything quite well. Only Thorsten, as the helmsman, has trouble controlling the rudder at the back, which is operated with pedals like in a car. The rudder reacts too slowly or not at all with the wave action... Difficult to maintain a reasonable direction. But since we are not on a busy highway and have space, we manage to stay together as a group.

The weather is perfect and the wind is pushing us a little from behind. So it was a good decision to set off early... We kayak along the coast for about an hour and a half and then head towards a cove. There are some beautiful coves here, equipped with fine golden sand.

A short break with cocoa, coffee or tea and a little small talk with Eve and Jake, the guides. Both are very nice and gladly provide information about what we see and about the Abel Tasman National Park.

Afterward, we cross the waterway over to Adele Island. That went quite well. But on the way back to one of the coves, we then faced the wind and also strong waves. It took a bit more effort to deal with that. With some waves, we also got splashed with water. But the good equipment, a kind of skirt that you strap around your chest and then pull over the stretchy lower edge around the seat, kept us relatively dry. Additionally, we also wore water-repellent vests and over that, the life jackets which are required for all kayakers.

After another hour, we arrived at the end of the kayaking tour. At Observation Beach, there was a stop sign for us. Eve and Jake sorted out the kayaking clothes since the kayaks were shortly thereafter loaded onto a motorboat and taken back to the base with Eve and Jake.

For us, a water taxi was scheduled for 4 PM, which would pick us up at Anchorage Bay, Abel Tasman. It was about a 3.5 km walk from our beach to the bay. However, the path went uphill and downhill (or more uphill than downhill...) and was part of the famous Abel Tasman Coast Track. We found that less enjoyable than many others who see it as a highlight. For us, the 3.5 km went mainly through bushes, and lookout points towards the bays were only at the very end of the track before Anchorage Bay.

Around 2 PM, we arrived at Anchorage Bay, Abel Tasman, and had to wait here for two more hours. We found the timing a bit unsatisfactory. What were we supposed to do here now? We were equipped for kayaking. Our other stuff was in the car at the base in Marahau. As long as the sun was shining, it was fine, but in the shade, it got chilly because some warm clothing was still wet from the kayaking tour...

At a quarter to three, we saw a water taxi from our organizer approaching the bay. We decided to ask if he could take us back a bit earlier. He could. Happy, we boarded the motorboat. The skipper told us that he still had to pick up other kayakers from another cove. We were fine with that, as we were already on the right boat and on our way home, plus it offered a free boat tour along the coastline of the national park...

The motorboat plowed through the water. Wow, it crashed quite a bit against the hull of the metal boat. We wondered how long something like this could hold up. Surely at some point it must break apart... and we'd be curious (or maybe not) about the force with which the waves hit the hull. And then the troughs of the waves into which the boat practically slammed...

But somehow it continued.

When we finally arrived in Marahau around 4 PM, we thought we would be unloaded at a dock or on the beach over the back of the boat. But no, a tractor with a trailer was waiting at the slipway. The skipper gave it some speed and drove directly onto the trailer, which was partially in the water. Clicked in and pulled up, we suddenly stood with the boat on the trailer and were taken to the base. A unique mode of transportation...